bird love

So,  this post is kind of a mish-mash of things.  But the theme that draws them all together is the fact that I love birds.  And I don't mean that I love having pet birds, because I don't believe I've ever had any, but I am kind of obsessed with watching birds in flight, and the delicateness of their forms.  It puts me in a trance when I see all the starlings swooping up and down in sync with one another, and I love watching geese fly south for the winter.  For a long time I had planned to do a massive installation piece of a few hundred paper cranes, wired to the ceiling to look like a flock of little birds.  It never happened because life happens and people get too busy to make hundreds of paper cranes for an installation that might never have a gallery spot anyway.  I still love the idea though.  So while I might not be slaving over origami birds so much anymore, I still love to paint them, and find pieces of jewelry that feature them.  Also, strangely enough, this post has nothing to do with my love of owls, which is a whole other obsession.  

The necklace (perched so nicely in Edwina, by semp plant) is from Glory Jewelry Designs. I love it, even though I am sadly allergic to the back of it.  I had to cover it in a few layers of clear nail polish.  The watercolours are by me, and are ACEO sized, and then I experimented with origami sparrows, and painted them to look like real sparrows...sort of.

The first and last images are from the ROM.  In case you're wondering they are not living birds, unfortunately.  The lace birds are a brooch that I picked up from an adorable little antique shop in Stratford, Ontario.  According to the woman working there, the brooch is made from Belgian lace, which is no longer being made.  I don't know if that's actual fact, but even if it's not, it's one of my new favourite pieces to wear.